


The Man Luke Loves

by rhiannonhero



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-25
Updated: 2011-01-25
Packaged: 2017-10-15 02:11:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/155928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhiannonhero/pseuds/rhiannonhero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><b>Author's Notes:</b> T?WT? of course.  Thanks to <span><a href="http://users.livejournal.com/_alicesprings/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://users.livejournal.com/_alicesprings/"><b>_alicesprings</b></a></span>, <span><a href="http://amelialourdes.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://amelialourdes.livejournal.com/"><b>amelialourdes</b></a></span>, and <span><a href="http://peggin.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://peggin.livejournal.com/"><b>peggin</b></a></span> for the beta reading!</p>
    </blockquote>





	The Man Luke Loves

**Author's Note:**

> **Author's Notes:** T?WT? of course. Thanks to [](http://users.livejournal.com/_alicesprings/profile)[**_alicesprings**](http://users.livejournal.com/_alicesprings/) , [](http://amelialourdes.livejournal.com/profile)[**amelialourdes**](http://amelialourdes.livejournal.com/) , and [](http://peggin.livejournal.com/profile)[**peggin**](http://peggin.livejournal.com/) for the beta reading!

Lily's walking rapidly through the hospital corridor next to Luke's boyfriend. It still feels odd, though, to call a man who is clearly over thirty her son’s boyfriend. He’s not a kid. Not like Noah was.

"Dr. Oliver, it's only going to last a few hours—"

"I've said no. Is there a genetic mutation in you and your off-spring that make you unable to understand that word?"

Lily narrows her eyes and grits her teeth. It's not as though this is the first time she's butted heads with Reid, and it probably won’t be the last. "It's his twenty-third birthday. You can't take a little time from your busy schedule to attend a family party to celebrate that the man you obviously care so much about came into this world?"

"What'd _he_ do? You're the one who did all the work. Throw a party for yourself and be done with it," Reid says, pulling a chart from the plastic sleeve outside of a patient's room.

Lily knows she's about to lose him, so she grabs his arm and says, "It's his birthday. It would mean a lot to him. I know my son, and it would make him happy for you to be there."

Reid sighs, flips through the chart in his hand, and then rolls his eyes. "Will there be food?"

"Of course! What's a birthday without cake and ice cream? Not to mention Luke's favorite dinner?" Lily smiles and tries to act comfortable. Reid has a way of throwing her off balance, and she's not sure that she'll ever be as easy with him as she was with Noah.

"I'm incapable of turning down food," Reid says, shrugging. "Count me in. Assuming no one comes in with a bullet in their head or some other delicious neurotrauma."

Lily clasps her hands together and ignores Reid's gruesome talk. "Wonderful. We'll see you there."

"Unless I get lucky," Reid says, high pitched and frustrated, before opening the door and walking in. Lily hears him greet his patient with, "Let's get this massive thing out of your head tomorrow. Sound good? Great."

Lily walks away feeling anxious and out of sorts. It’s been almost a year since Reid became a regular fixture in their lives, and while she still isn't quite sure what it is _exactly_ that Luke sees in Dr. Oliver, it's clear that whatever it is, Luke loves it deeply.

Luke’s never been able to hide his feelings when it comes to Dr. Oliver. Lily remembers when she saw Luke and Reid standing together in the hospital right after Noah’s surgery, and she’d known immediately that something had changed between them. It would have been obvious to anyone. Even then, the feelings Luke had for Reid couldn’t be hidden. She’ll never forget the disarming burst of anxiety and disappointment which had shot through her at the time. She’d been so incredulous that Luke would abandon Noah at such a crucial juncture, disappointed and confused about her son’s behavior.

Of course, she knows now that there was so much more to the story of Luke and Noah than she’d ever been privy to, and as Holden sometimes reminds her, people only show what they want others to see of their lives, and Luke hadn’t wanted her to know how unhappy he’d sometimes been with Noah.

She sighs, feeling guilty that Luke hadn’t wanted to share that part of his life with her. She heads toward the hospital parking garage and brushes the guilt away. After all, Luke’s happy now. In fact, she’s never seen him so happy. He’s focused and driven, working hard for the hospital and his foundation. Luke hasn’t moved in with Reid yet, but she suspects he will soon, because he’s there nearly every night, and when he’s not, she knows he’d like to be.

She admits to herself as she climbs into her car that it’s a relief to her that the emotional investment isn’t all one-sided. Though she might find Reid challenging to deal with at times, she can tell how much he loves her son. The way he looks at him, the respect he shows Luke, and how he always puts Luke’s well-being first in his life warms her heart toward him. In fact, it is his dedication to Luke’s happiness that let her know what card to play to get him to the party, despite his initial protestations.

So, though he’s difficult and not someone she ever imagined spending a great deal of time with, she’s been making sure to include Reid in family functions, and to try to make time to talk with him one on one. Because if her baby boy is going to be with this man, then she wants to feel comfortable around him. The problem is Reid makes that very hard for her to do. He’s often surly or impatient with her, and what’s even more remarkable is that she truly believes that what she’s getting from him is his best behavior.

Lily stops by the bakery to pick up Luke’s favorite cake – strawberry with butter cream icing – and buys a few decorated cookies for the younger kids, too. She buys a few extra when she remembers that Reid is coming, because she’s pretty sure that Reid could eat through most of Luke’s cake and steal the kid’s cookies, too, if he was left alone long enough to manage it.

She picks Ethan up from pre-school and grins at him while he shows her the art he made in class that day. He’s not got talent that Lily can see, but she suspects he’ll be good at sports. He’s always been physically adept, and good with a soccer ball.

“Tonight’s Luke’s birthday,” she reminds him when he asks about the cake she has in the front passenger seat. “I bought his favorite.”

“Yuck,” Ethan groans. “I hate strawberry.”

“That’s why I got you cookies,” Lily says, and laughs when Ethan shouts his joy and declares her an awesome mom.

“Mom?” Ethan asks. “Will Reid be there?”

Lily says, “Unless there’s an emergency, honey.”

Ethan nods happily and Lily shakes her head. No matter how difficult she might find Reid to be, it amazes her how much the children love him, possibly as much or more than they loved Noah. She thinks it’s because Reid’s a lot like the kids – too honest, impatient, and in search of food, preferably junk food, at all times.

Lily sighs. It had been so easy for her to accept Noah. The boys had been so young, and he’d reminded her in so many ways of Holden. Noah had been in need of a home, and they’d given it to him without question, and for awhile he and Luke had been happy. Of course, there had always been some kind of drama going on in the background of their relationship, and while some of it was life or death, dangerous and terrifying, their relationship had seemed so youthful and so pure in her eyes.

She knows better now, of course, and she’s sorry that it took Luke so long to trust her with some of the issues in his relationship with Noah, but it doesn’t stamp out the fact that for a long time, she’d considered the boy to be another son. Sometimes, she’s not sure if what she’s missing was even real, but she misses it anyway. The Noah she’d wanted to be her son’s boyfriend, the young man she’d cared for so much, well, she can’t just stop thinking about him or missing him. Luckily, Luke understands that. He says sometimes he feels the same way.

Truth be told, there had been times when Luke first came out that she had feared for a future where he was taken advantage of by some older man, someone who would use him for his looks or money. When she first met Reid, she couldn’t imagine that the man wanted anything more than Luke’s body, and possibly his money once she learned of the new neurowing, but at this point, she is certain that her first impression had been wrong. Noah, though, doesn’t feel the same way.

Lily sends Ethan upstairs with Natalie when she gets home from the bus stop, and starts on dinner, putting the cake on a decorative plate, and searching the pantry for some birthday candles for Luke to blow out. She finally finds some, and as she puts them into the cake, twenty three for each year of Luke’s difficult life, she remembers her phone call with Noah last week. Perhaps it had been a bad idea, but she’d called to see if he might want to come to Luke’s birthday; Lily had offered to pay for the ticket.

“I don’t think – listen, if he’s still with Dr. Oliver, then I don’t want anything to do with either of them,” Noah had said.

“Noah, you’re part of our family. Nothing will change that. I know it’s been a difficult year, and maybe you’re not ready yet, and I understand, but I just wanted you to know that you’re welcome here. That we miss you. We love you.”

“Thanks, Lily,” Noah had said, his voice gruff with a mix of emotions. Lily thought he seemed sad and angry and dismissive all at the same time. “And I’ll never forget what you’ve all done for me. I just…I can’t be around Luke right now.”

“I understand. It can be hard to let go.”

“It’s not that,” Noah said, huffing an abrasive laugh. “It’s that he’s making a horrible mistake and I don’t want to see him get hurt.”

Lily had thought of Luke’s smiles, and the night she walked into the den to find Luke and Reid on the sofa together. They’d been watching a movie and fallen asleep with Reid’s feet on the coffee table, and his head flopped to the back of the sofa. Luke was curled up against his chest, his fingers tucked inside the buttons of Reid’s shirt, and a smile on his face even as he slept. It had been such a pity to wake them, but after watching them for several minutes, she’d decided that they’d be more comfortable in a bed. Luke had been so surprised when she told Reid to go to Luke’s room for the night. For some reason, it had just seemed like the right thing to do.

“Honey,” Lily had said to Noah. “I don’t think he’s going to be hurt. Dr. Oliver…Reid…he truly cares for Luke. I know it’s surprising, the man seems like he doesn’t care for anyone—“

“He doesn’t. It’s an act. He’s ambitious and he’s figured out that he can tap Luke’s money if he taps…listen, you can’t trust him.”

Lily hadn’t liked the sound of Noah’s voice then. It had been bitter and unreasonable. She’d said, “Noah, I’ll keep an eye out. But I think your concern is unwarranted.”

Even now she doesn’t like to think of how Noah had responded to that with a rude laugh which had seemed to call her judgment into question. It wasn’t the sweet boy she knew so well.

Counting over the birthday candles again, and adding the last one, she sighs and pushes the thoughts from her mind. She doesn’t need to worry about that right now. She’s got dinner to prepare and children to corral. She wonders when Faith is going to be home, and hopes she’s remembered that it’s Luke’s birthday. She considers calling Parker to remind him, thinking that she could invite him as well, so that Faith would be more cooperative over dinner.

“Mom!”

She checks the oven and heads out to the living room, pleased to hear Luke’s voice. “Baby, you’re home early,” she says, hugging him. He’s wearing new aftershave and she likes it.

“It’s Reid’s,” Luke says, smiling. “I wanted to wear it today.”

Lily remembers when she first met Damian, how she had dabbed some of his aftershave on her wrist one morning early on in their relationship, wanting to smell him all day.

“Is Dad coming?” Luke asks.

“No, baby, I’m sorry. He’s stuck on the farm with a foaling mare. He said to send you his love and to tell you that he’ll have dinner with you later this week if you’ve got time.”

The kids come running down the stairs then, and Luke sweeps them into a big hug. Lily smiles watching them laugh together. It’s been almost a week since Luke’s spent the night at home, and she can see that the children really miss him. She feels a pang of sadness that soon he’ll move out; she knows it’s only a matter of time, and they’ll see him even less often than they do now.

The afternoon goes by quickly. Faith texts Luke that she’s sorry to miss his birthday, but she’s going out with Parker, and that he’s the best big brother in the world. Luke stops her from calling Faith to insist that she come home, saying, “Mom, she loves me. I know she does. That’s all that matters. Let her have fun with Parker.”

The kids go upstairs to play or do homework before dinner, and shortly thereafter, there’s a knock at the door. It’s Lucinda dropping by with a gift and her love for Luke. Lily watches the two of them and feels a strange envy for her son. Even though she’s glad for him that he can still have a solid relationship with Lucinda, she finds herself wishing that she could turn back time and have one, too.

Lucinda doesn’t stay for long, though, and it’s as she’s walking out the door that Reid comes in. Luke’s face breaks into a grin, and says, “Reid! I thought you were working tonight.”

Lily crosses her arms over her chest and smirks at Reid when he says, “Your mother gave me the hard sell. I cleared my schedule. Besides, food.”

Luke laughs softly and shakes his head at Reid, and Lily watches as Luke hugs him. Reid pats one of his pockets and comes up with a plastic bubble like the kind from a toy vending machine. “For you,” he says.

Luke looks like he’s about to laugh again, but he works hard to smother it and says, “A gift? For me?”

Reid nods and looks hilariously proud of himself. Lily shakes her head and feels a warm fondness in her chest as Luke turns the bubble over and over in his hand.

“Let me guess: you got it from the toy vending machines down in peds?”

“You betcha. I scared a token off of a nurse to get this here fancy gift for you.”

Luke rolls his lips in, still fighting his amusement, and Lily finds that she’s smiling, too. “Reid, those are for the kids.”

“Yep, they get stuck without crying,” Reid gestures like he’s giving a shot. “And they get to stick a token in the machine for some cheapo thrill in a bubble. It was a good idea some idiot I know came up with.”

Luke snorts softly and says, “Good to know I’m not completely useless.”

Reid’s face softens, and Lily brings her fingers up to her lips, pressing against her smile. “No. Not useless at all.”

Luke kisses him and says, “Thanks,” in such a soft, sweet voice that Lily wants to hug Luke and tell him what a good boy he is, and how proud she is of him, but she refrains.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Reid asks.

Luke pops the bubble apart and peers down into it before pulling out some squishy tiny green monster and waves it at Reid. “It’s…perfect.”

“Happy birthday,” Reid says, and Luke breaks into another huge smile, and kisses Reid again.

Lily clears her throat. She’s unaccustomed to seeing Luke kissing his boyfriend so often. He and Noah didn’t really get very demonstrative with each other when she was around, and she’s still uncertain how she feels about the change. She expects it more from Faith, but Luke’s always been reticent with his displays of affection, but now she wonders if that was Luke after all. Perhaps it had been Noah who was less comfortable expressing his love in public.

“Dinner should be ready soon,” Lily says. “Oh, by the way, Reid.” She notices that his eyebrows go up at the use of his first name, but she keeps talking, “When is your birthday? I don’t have it on my calendar.”

Reid shrugs and says, “I’ll be celebrating with a nice, warm brain. You don’t need to put yourself out over it.”

Luke says, “January 8th. He’s going to be thirty-five.”

Reid rolls his eyes. “Don’t _tell_ her. She’ll want to…have a party or something.”

Lily lifts her eyebrow at him and says, “That’s some ego you’ve got there, Reid. Assuming I’d want to have a party for you. Maybe I just wanted to buy you a cake.”

Reid actually looks a little worried, like maybe he’s missed out on something good, and he says, “Oh, well, in that case, I like chocolate. Or yellow. Or white. Or angel food. It doesn’t matter. Cake is cake.”

Luke is laughing again, and he meets her eyes, and then rolls his to show her that he thinks Reid’s ridiculous.

“You don’t celebrate your birthday?” Lily asks.

Reid shrugs again. “Never have. No need to start now.”

“Are you a practicing Jehovah’s Witness?” Lily asks laughing a little.

Reid blinks at her for a moment and Luke laughs, saying, “I asked him the same thing.”

“That’s? Disturbing,” Reid says.

“Well, he is my son,” Lily says. “We have a lot in common.”

Reid mutters something that sounds like, “Don’t remind me,” as he wipes his hand over his face.

Luke shakes his head and elbows Reid lightly in the chest.

“Reid doesn’t really have a family,” Luke volunteers, and Reid looks at him with an expression that’s hard to read. Lily isn’t sure if he’s angry or just wary.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she says. “Your parents have passed away?”

Reid sighs. “Something like that.”

“He doesn’t like to talk about it,” Luke says.

Lily watches as Reid sends another look Luke’s way. Luke steers Reid toward the sofa, but neither of them sit down. Lily stands to the side and watches as they look at each other and they have an entire conversation with just their eyes.

Apparently, Luke wins the discussion, because Reid sighs, turns to her, and says, “My father shot my mother and then himself while I was at school one day. I was six.”

Lily swallows hard and says, “My God, Reid. I’m so sorry.”

Reid nods and says, “He had a brain tumor. Given the location and the size, it’s likely that he wasn’t in his right mind when he did it. He might have even been hallucinating.”

Lily reaches out to him, but Reid doesn’t look like he wants her to touch him.

“My uncle and aunt raised me. Until my aunt left him. Then it was just my uncle. And there you have it. The pathetic story of my sorry childhood. Let the pity commence.”

Lily looks at Luke, and then at Reid again. She says, “You have a family now, Reid. You have us.”

Reid stares at her like she’s grown two heads and says, “No, now, see, that’s where you’re wrong. I? I have a boyfriend,” and he gestures toward Luke, speaking slowly like he’s talking to a kindergartener.

Lily crosses her arms over her chest and narrows her eyes at him.

“And my boyfriend has a _family_. A family that I don’t want. Because, frankly, you’re all looney tunes. Let me be perfectly clear: you’d be a _liability_ , not an asset. So, no. Keep your family, and I’ll take your son.”

“Reid,” Luke says in warning.

Reid turns to look at him and says, “What? I’m being honest. I’ve heard it’s the best policy.”

“Reid,” Lily says, moving forward, her hands reaching out to him. “You don’t need to be so defensive with us. We’re not going to turn you out. Say whatever you want to me, but you’re part of the family now. Whether you like it or not.”

Reid’s eyes are wide with an expression of incredulity. “Seriously? None of you understand the word ‘no’, do you?”

“Apparently not,” Lily says, and she takes Reid’s hands in her own. They are cold and well-formed, and she squeezes his fingers gently.

He says, “Oh, God, you’re not going to try to hug me now, are you? Luke…Luke…?”

Lily laughs and wraps her arms around his stiff form, and presses her cheek to his chest, hugging him quite hard. He awkwardly pats her shoulder and says, “Okay, well…don’t get all…Luke?”

Luke’s trying to hold back his smile again like he does so often these days, like he’s so happy that the joy is about to spill out, and he just can’t hold it in, no matter how hard he tries. She wonders why he even bothers.

She hears thumping on the stairs, and then Natalie says, “Reid’s here!”

Reid’s groan is a deep rumble against her ear, and then Natalie and Ethan are grabbing him, too, and he’s making all sorts of grumbling sounds. But then Luke’s wrapping his arms around Lily and Reid’s shoulders, and the kids are pressed against their hips, and everyone but Reid is laughing.

When Lily dares to pull her head back and look up at him, he’s trying very hard to look angry, but he’s not managing it at all, and finally he says, “Okay, okay! Let’s break this up and have cake! I was promised food. Now I really need it to make up for all of this icky touching.”

“Cake!” Natalie yells, his partner in food crime, and Lily laughs, glad that someone in the house besides Luke gets Reid mostly unconditionally.

As she watches Reid and the kids head toward the kitchen, Luke puts his hand on her shoulder and squeezes. “Thanks, Mom,” he says. “Thank you for letting him in. He really needs us. Even if he says he doesn’t.”

Lily wraps her arms around Luke’s waist and hugs him tightly. She lets go when Reid calls for him from the other room, and Luke takes off to the kitchen to see what’s going on in there.

Over dinner, Lily considers again her last phone call with Noah. She knows without a doubt that Noah is wrong. Reid isn’t after Luke for anything other than his love. And love is something that Luke has so much to give. Reid doesn’t even want Luke’s family. Somehow she thinks that should be something that she counts as a negative, but watching them together, seeing the devotion on Reid’s face, she can’t see it as anything but great.

Later, as Lily watches Luke as he blows out his birthday candles, she claps with the kids when Reid kisses Luke and promises him twenty-three spankings when they get home. She doesn’t want to know, of course, but she’s so glad to see her son happy with someone who loves him that she puts it out of her mind.

It isn’t every day that Lily opens her family to another member, but on Luke’s birthday, it just seems right. She’s determined now – no matter how difficult Reid is, no matter how prickly, or rude, she’s going to see through that; she’s going to see the little boy underneath it all, the one who grew into the man Luke loves.

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally posted at [](http://community.livejournal.com/noah_who/profile)[**noah_who**](http://community.livejournal.com/noah_who/) for the Douchefest 2010 challenge. The original post can be found [HERE.](http://community.livejournal.com/noah_who/27941.html)


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